Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

First cruise ever - so why not start with a big one!

Sail Date: November 24, 2013

Reviewed:2 years ago

Traveled As: Singles/Friends

Room Type: Inside

Cabin: GTY

Being my first cruise, I can not compare it to other cruises or cruise lines. For me, I had a wonderful experience. It exceeded all my expectations. I was a solo traveler, so I really enjoyed the ability to share different dinner tables (free-style dining) each night to meet new people. I don't think I would of liked the idea of dining with the same people every night. With 2000 guests on board, I want to meet them all ... ok ... mayve 1950 of them. I enjoyed the idea of being on the ship for 14 days. I liked the schedule where we were at sea 1-2 days, docked for a day, sea 1-2 days, etc. There was always things to do, or not do, on the ship while at sea. My only comment to newbies is that I had better luck setting up most of my shore excursions on my own once I exited the ship for the day - you could always make a deal with the vendors waiting outside the ship. For me, the on-board excursions were too expensive and somewhat limiting. I had a bad expereiece on my first on-board excursion and cancelled most of the rest of them I made on board (just fyi, you have to cancel within 48 hours of the excursion). I did take the 8-hour excursion in Costa Rica from the ship that was the zip-line tour. It was worth every penny. Since the tour was with the ship, I knew that if we were late coming back, they would wait. Guess what, two of our busses out of four (70+ people) got back 20 minutes late and I was on one of them. The ship did wait. Also, I thought that the safety issues would be better since the tour was through the ship. Best of all, it rained while we were zipping over the rain forest - go figure.

If you went hungry during the cruise, it was your own fault. There was always (too much) food available 24-hours a day. The entertainment was good. The staff was excellent, as was the cabin. I booked the cheapest in-board cabin since I wasn't planning on staying in my room much was was upgraded to an outside cabin with a 2'x3' window - luckily it didn't open or my room would of been pretty wet. The room was just right for a solo traveler. I wish they did offer single rooms since I had to pay double to have a room by myself - but I knew that booking the trip.

Overall, it was an excellent trip for me. I live in Connecticut and took Amtrak from CT to LA (3+ days) before arriving in LA a day early for the trip. It was an adventure of a life-time for me. The bonus was that I meet some great people during my travels. It was nice seeing different ports for a day since now I want to travel back to Costa Rica and Columbia for a longer stay and explore the land, culture, and people. Hopefully that will be my next adventure. The main reason I picked this trip was for the crossing of the Panama Canal. This trip had a purpose, and not just stopping at beaches. Growing up, you read about the digging of the canal and now I can appreciate the size of it as it took about 8-9 hours to go through the entire canal.

In summary:

- excellent trip

- worth the cost (even as a single traveler) - I booked about 2-3 weeks before the trip so it was cheaper

- loved the free-style dining since I could meet different peole all the time - wasn't bound to a single table every night

- great food

- good entertainment

- A few of the on-board excursions are worth it, but you can get a better deal off the ship

- Luckily, we had great weather - only two days of mild seas (12' swells) of 14 days.

Tip

You can get a better deal, and sometimes a better trip, if you book your off-ship excursions once you exit the ship and come face to face with the hoards of vendors waiting to make you a deal for a day trip.

You asked if I had a favorite port. I enjoyed Puntarenas, Costa Rica and Cartagena, Colombia the most. The Mexico ports were OK for me. I did an 8 hour excursion in Costa Rica where we did zip lines. When booking this cruise, this was the off-ship event I was most interested in. As for Columbia, I truly enjoyed the 6 hours I was in Puntarenas due to the sites and people. I took my own taxi with two other couples and we made up our own tour - which was cheaper and better than the excursions available from the ship - in my opinion. Puntarenas is a city I want to come back and visit for a while.

I know you made your cruise reservation 3 weeks or so before departure, but how did you work out the Amtrack train schedule? My husband and I have used Amtrack to go to Florida, and if I did not make the beroom reservation at least 7 months ahead, the cost became even more outrageous the closer to the date we were leaving. The cruise sounds wonderful, as we have been to the Panama Canal, but not through it. The Queen Mary is too wide, which is why they are now working on an expansion. I hope to be able to go through the canal some time in the future!! Mendhamcruiser

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